An 8-year-old and 9-year-old in South Carolina are facing involuntary manslaughter charges following the shooting death of a 62-year-old farmer, police say.
After Danny Andrew Smith was found shot on his property in Walhalla in late June, the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office has filed a petition in family court to have the unidentified children charged in Smith’s death. When Smith was found, he had a .22 caliber gunshot wound in his back and was discovered slumped over a running tractor on June 23. His wife asked authorities to help find him when he didn’t return home that day, before they located him crashed into a tree.
“After a consultation with the Solicitor’s Office, and based on the evidence obtained in our ongoing investigation, we believe that both juvenile males discharged a firearm in a reckless manner in the direction of Mr. Smith who was bush hogging on some family property,” Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw said.
Crenshaw said in his statement that it’s still “undetermined” which shot killed the 62-year-old.
“However, based upon South Carolina law, the hand of one is the hand of all and that is why family court has been petitioned in regards to charging both juveniles with involuntary manslaughter,” he said.
A rifle, which police say is the muder weapon, has been revcovered, as the two boys are currently in custody with their parents since South Carolina law says “juveniles under the age of 10 cannot be detained.”
